Facebook 'Likes' Considered Key Evidence In 'Terrorist' Plot

from the signal-of-intent? dept

We've written a few times about how the FBI has been doing a bang up job foiling its own terrorist plots, so we're a bit skeptical every time we see headlines of some giant "terrorist bust." Almost every time, once you dig into the details, it involves some gullible, confused suckers who had no actual connection to terrorists, but were led along by FBI agents and informers until they were "convinced" to take part in a "plot" that was entirely concocted by the FBI. The latest headline-grabbing case of "arrested terrorists" actually appears like it may have slightly more substance, however, in that they may have actually had some sort of connection to al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

That doesn't mean that there still aren't some oddities in the case, however. As a number of folks have sent over, reading through the indictment (also embedded below) shows that a significant chunk of the "evidence" seems to consist of Facebook "likes" and shared content among the accused. From the indictment:

I have reviewed several of the social media web sites
for KABIR, SANTANA, DELEON, each of whom has posted radical prom
jihad content on their respective pages. Additionally, portions
of the social media show that DELEON and SANTANA "liked"
postings on KABIR's Facebook page as early as May 2011.

Public items posted by KABIR to his social media
accounts include photographs of himself, non-extremist content,
radical Islamist content, and items reflecting a mistrust of
mainstream media, abuses by the government, conspiracy theories,
abuses by law enforcement, and the war in Afghanistan. KABIR's
radical postings include videos and links to videos of Al-Qa'ida
leader Anwar Al-Awlagi and his lectures, jihad--based videos
regarding Afghanistan and elsewhere, videos depicting mujahideen
fighters in Afghanistan and elsewhere, videos depicting
terrorist training camps and related activities, videos
depicting improvised explosive device attacks, and
articles regarding the death of American soldiers in
Afghanistan. For example, on July 6, 2012, KABIR shared a video
to his public Facebook page entitled "Knights of Khorasan
Islamic Emirate Operation Against an Army Base in
Margha." This video, which I have reviewed, depicts a suicide
bombing operation against a large base wherein the suicide-
bomber drives an explosives-laden truck into a base and
detonates it. The video bears the symbol of As-Sahab, Al--
Qa'ida's media wing, in the lower right corner.

KABIR has "shared" several postings with SANTANA
and/or DELEON, both of whom have "liked" or commented on several
other postings by KABIR, including the following:

a. On December 7, 2011, KABIR posted a video
entitled "Black Flags of Khorasan: Part 2" that he later
"shared" with DELEON.- (Based on my training and experience,
conversations with other agents, and research of publicly
available information, the black flag or banner refers to a
traditional flag flown by Muhammad and later by Islamic military
leaders. More recently, several jihadi groups and terrorists
have adopted the black flag as a symbol for jihad and mujahideen
fighters.)

b. On or about January 5, 2012, KABIR shared a link
regarding negotiating with the Taliban. SANTANA "liked" the
post and SANTANA and KABIR engaged in a public exchange of
comments. SANTANA said, "they messed up know?" KABIR followed
SANTANA's comment with a comment that appeared to
include excerpts of a "Statement of Islamic Emirate of
Afghanistan," which discussed the Taliban's desire to expel the
United States from, and establish their own government in,
Afghanistan. SANTANA replied to KABIR's comment by writing "Oh yea!!!!"

(Based on the context of this statement, including the fact that
KABIR was then in Germany, I believe that KABIR intended to
inform DELEON that he had commenced his journey to Afghanistan.)

d. On January 19, 2012, DELEON "liked" a shared link
posted on KABIR's page of a video entitled "Dua of Sheikh
Muhammad al Mohaisany masjid al haram makkah." The video, which
I have reviewed as posted on KABIR's page, appears to be a
prayer for the success of the mujahideen and features various
photos including Al--Qa'ida leaders Usama Bin Laden and Ayman al
Zawahiri, 9/11 attacks, bloodied adults and children, and
Islamic fighters. The video also calls for the liberation of
Al-Aqsa, the mosque referenced in the 1998 Al-Qa'ida fatwa
described above.

e. On February 13, 2012, SANTANA "liked" two shared
video links on KABIR's page, including one for a video entitled
"Imam Anwar al Awlaki -- A Story of Courage."

g. On June 16, 2012, SANTANA "liked" a video,
produced by Al--Qa'ida's media wing, As-Sahab, shared by KABIR to
his Facebook page entitled "Ghuraba." This video, which I have
reviewed, appears to depict life as a mujahideen fighter and
includes several interviews. The video also features mujahideen
fighters firing artillery.

h. On July 5, 2012, KABIR posted a photo featuring
Al-Qa'ida leader Anwar Al-Awlaqi which contained a quote from
Al-Awlaqi. DELEON "liked" and "shared" the photo.

i. On September 16, 2012, DELEON "liked" KABIR's shared link to a video entitled "The Truth Has Come and Falsehood has perished Part 1 Urdu." This video, which I have reviewed, is a production by As-Sahab and begins with footage of Al-Awlaqi and discusses the war in Afghanistan. The video also features current Al-Qa'ida leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri.

On September 17, 2012 SANTANA "liked" KABIR's post of an article entitled "A Public Talk by Ustadz Abu M Jibriel AR: The Truth of The 9/11 Jihad Operation, The Plots Of The Enemies and The Zionist Conspiracy."

There is, of course, other evidence including statements made by all the defendants. For all we know they may have actually been planning attacks on US targets and the indictment is entirely appropriate. But it certainly gives pause to suggest that "likes" and "shares" on Facebook are somehow evidence of terrorist intent. It could certainly be seen as having a chilling effect for anyone who might "like" or "share" content on Facebook that is critical of the US government.

Public items posted by KABIR to his social media accounts include photographs of himself, non-extremist content, radical Islamist content, and items reflecting a mistrust of mainstream media, abuses by the government, conspiracy theories, abuses by law enforcement, and the war in Afghanistan.

The later-enumerated "radical postings" are the only things on that list worth even an ounce of concern. Unless, that is, you're the FBI, in which case posts about "abuses by the government" and "abuses by law enforcement" are very high on the list of Things Only Bad People Do.

Re:

They list "mistrust of media" as if it were an attribute of a criminal, which is BS. I for one certainly don't trust the mainstream media. It's so heavily biased that it's unbearable. Everything is politics, politics, politics.

Trust is something that's earned, not freely given.

And since when was pointing out abuses by the government/law enforcement and conspiracy theories considered a crime? Are the FBI the thought police?

Re: Sorry, but it IS evidence

Clicking an icon can't establish motive, intent, or even if that post was something the original person agreed with.

All it means is that some circumstance lead that person to clicking that icon. Maybe this person thought it was funny, maybe they wanted to save it for later, maybe they are just a troll, maybe they didn't think the person was being serious.

Saying "Well, clicking an icon on the internet IS evidence that in some way, they are related or agreed with one another" has to be some kind of ridiculous hyperbole. People's opinions and motives are not the same as clicks, we're not dolphins here.

Re: Sorry, but it IS evidence

That is why I do not dare friending Techdirt on facebook: I would be unhireable by so many companies since Techdirt dare utter the word terrorism, which makes for banner ads for some extremely shady sites, which makes NSA interested, which makes them collect and decipher all I do on the internet! When they find out I am not dangerous they lose interest and give the case over to the archive, which is when the dataprotection is weak and some teenage hacker will find the data and release them to stick it to the man, which is when all companies see me associated with terrorism and though I never did anything wrong I will be blackballed.

Now is the time I ask the government to protect my rights by improving the abilities of the 3-letter agencies to investigate to help my privacy on the internet. Darn you, Techdirt, I cannot do anything because of your negative relations with the companies controlling the government. I can only see one solution and that is to avoid association. The government is here to protect me, so I have to leave you!

Re:

Umm....they're talking about Facebook. If someone "friends" another person on Facebook, it's not evidence that the two people are actually friends. If "liking" something on Facebook was proof that the user actually liked it, then:

Re:

Negative, 'Like's don't give statistics as to why the post was liked. All it gives is an indication that something inside the post was interesting to that person. It is not a certain sign of agreement or intent by any means.

It's a amorphous point. It has no meaningful magnitude or direction, just an indication that someone's mouse clicked something at some time.

Re:

If they post that they 'like' something, that is also saying that they promote and/or support the linked content.

If you publicly support or promote activities that are illegal, it is reasonable for that to be used as evidence in court to show something like intent. By itself is that very weak evidence? Yes it is! So that alone isn't going to be putting someone in jail.

DAMN - I accidentally "liked" LOLKATZ

Critical reading

But it certainly gives pause to suggest that "likes" and "shares" on Facebook are somehow evidence of terrorist intent. It could certainly be seen as having a chilling effect for anyone who might "like" or "share" content on Facebook that is critical of the US government.

That's not how I read it. More like "likes" and "shares" of material that is openly jihadist in nature" is evidence of agreement with the jihadist philosophy expressed in the material. Just like, if I were to "like" a certain singer and "share" content related to that artist, one might reasonably conclude that I was a fan of theirs.

It's circumstantial evidence, to be sure, but it's circumstantial evidence that makes sense, and misreporting it as "your Facebook likes can be taken as evidence of terrorist intent" really doesn't do much to strengthen the case you're trying to make here...

Seriously people?

Seriously guys? This isn't evidence? It's obviously evidence of intent and/or motive. As someone else said, if you hold a sign that says "I hate John Smith" and then John Smith is killed, that's evidence of your motive to kill John. It isn't enough to convict by itself, true, which is why the government has other evidence.

Someone said "All it means is that some circumstance lead that person to clicking that icon."

Yes, and if you're holding a sign that says "I hate Jim" that just means somehow your hands came to be wrapped around that particular piece of cardboard and thrust it into the air. Give me a break. A reasonable person would conclude you hate Jim from that evidence, that's what the jury might think, and that's what the law cares about. Now if there's evidence that these guys were posting things to be sarcastic or whatever, that will also come out at trial. But given the amount of content posted, that seems unlikely.

If you literally "like" al-Qaida, a terrorist organization dedicated to kiling Americans, on Facebook, you're a) not every good at being a terrorist and b) shouldn't be surprised when the FBI pays you a visit.